Latvian graduate wins Elmwood award
R&A Scholar Peteris Sadovskis, originally from Latvia, has won this year’s John Deere sponsored SRUC Elmwood HNC Student of the Year Award.
Now living in Leven, Fife with his wife Viktorija and two year old daughter Sophie, Peteris Sadovskis was judged the college’s best overall HNC Golf Course Management student for 2016. He was presented with his award certificate by Sandy Armit of local John Deere dealer The Double A Trading Company Ltd, on the SRUC Elmwood Golf Course at Cupar in north-east Fife.
Peteris Sadovskis with John Deere dealer Sandy Armit of The Double A Trading Company Ltd.
Peteris also won gift vouchers to the value of £300 for golf supplies from The Old Course shop at St Andrews Links, where he worked as a seasonal divot filler in 2006 after leaving Latvia for the first time. From these lowly beginnings, Peteris has worked extremely hard to improve both his language and greenkeeping skills. He started studying for a National Certificate in Greenkeeping at Elmwood in 2014 and won Best Practical Student on that course in 2015.
“Throughout his studies Peteris has been keen, motivated and thrown himself into the industry with great passion and a desire to learn as much as he can, and put this into practice,” said course tutor Stuart Mackie. “He has proved to be a conscientious and approachable student with a very professional outlook, and has maintained a very high standard of work. I have no doubt Peteris will continue to progress within the industry.”
Having returned from Latvia to live in Scotland with his family in 2011, Peteris once again found seasonal work at St Andrews Links and decided to pursue a career in greenkeeping, while also taking English lessons to improve his prospects. He is currently working as a seasonal greenkeeper at the New and Jubilee Courses at St Andrews, and has applied for the HND Golf Course Management course at SRUC Elmwood, starting in September.
“I was really surprised but very happy to win the Student of the Year award,” he says. “I love greenkeeping and I don’t intend to rest on my achievements. Now I would like to get as much experience as possible, and with my native languages I believe there should be good prospects for my career, maybe even developing golf courses in different countries including Russia and the Baltic states.”
Renowned for its leading golf training and education programmes, SRUC Elmwood boasts a number of famous graduates including Gordon Moir, director of greenkeeping, Gordon McKie, course manager of the Old Course and Kevin Muir, course manager of the Eden Course at St Andrews Links.
